Former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan (Center L) and his wife, Lee Soon-ja (R), leave the Gwangju District Court after Chun was found guilty of defaming late activist priest Cho Pius on Nov. 30, 2020. (Photo: Yonhap News)
Former President Chun Doo-hwan has recevied a suspended sentence for defaming a late activist priest who documented a bloody crackdown by Chun's troops on pro-democracy demonstrators in Gwangju.
The Gwangju District Court sentenced Chun on Monday to eight months in prison suspended for two years.
He was found guilty of defaming priest Cho Pius, who had testified to witnessing the military shooting at civilians from helicopters during the May 18 movement four decades ago.
The court said, "Given the appraisal by the National Forensic Service, there is reasonable ground to believe there were shootings from helicopters on May 21, 1980," rejecting Chun's consistent claims to the contrary.
The court also said the biggest responsibility for the brutal crackdown fell on the former leader, and that he should sincerely apologize for the suffering and pain he caused.
Chun, 89, was indicted in May 2018 for allegedly making slanderous statements against Cho in his controversial memoir published a year earlier.
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